


Alcohol and Death (and Maybe a Caring Friend)

by undercovermockingbird



Category: The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: ClinTasha if you squint, The team makes a cameo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-12
Updated: 2013-09-12
Packaged: 2017-12-26 09:43:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/964467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undercovermockingbird/pseuds/undercovermockingbird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint celebrates one more year since he met Phil - alone. His team is worried about him, so they figure out a way to show they care.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alcohol and Death (and Maybe a Caring Friend)

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my tumblr under the title, We're Right Here, Barton.

Today is - was? - an important day for Clint. It marks one more year since he met Phil in an alley in England, when he was drunk as hell and an assassin for hire and feeling like a grim reaper. Phil was in a suit and neat as always. When the man approached him with a discussion of his supposedly secret track record, Clint was alarmed. Stupid and drunk and tired of self control, Clint had half a mind to shoot him on the spot. And maybe he would have, if the older man hadn't said something startled him out of his wits.

Clint was being recruited.

So he just stood there with a confused look, using the wall for support. Phil gave him all the details he needed to know, and Clint just nodded because his foggy mind didn’t know what else to do. Then he fell asleep. The next morning, he woke up in his safe house, found a phone number taped to his nose, and freaked out.

It’s strange, because Clint can never sleep around strangers, even when he is drunk. He guesses that it was Phil’s calm demeanor that made him comfortable.

Every year, Phil and Clint would celebrate together. Small things to show each other appreciation. Fewer annoying comments from Clint; more free time to spend in the shooting range from Phil. They'd leave each other sticky notes with encouraging messages. It was ritual, until one of them died.

This year, Clint is spending their anniversary in a bar. It’s just a small place down the street, but he gets a feeling of déjà vu. Here he is again without Phil, alone in a bar. He isn’t getting wasted this time around, only drinking enough to blunt the edges of the sharp pain. And when he’s done drinking, he has a home to go back to, with friends. Hawkeye didn’t have that pleasure all those years ago.

Those friends of his are currently sitting in a circle in the living room without him, discussing the problem with Barton today. Natasha is the only one missing, but the male superheroes are confident they can figure out the cause and fix it. Having a gloomy Hawkeye all day has a surprisingly downcast effect on the rest of them. Just yesterday, he was being intolerable – the usual Clint.

They have Jarvis search for any possible reason their friend and teammate is acting this way, as well as talking about it themselves. After both AI and men have exhausted all their theories, Natasha walks in, says “It’s the day he met Phil,” and leaves. Suddenly, everything makes sense. Everybody knows how Clint’s handler was like a brother to him; the brother that Barney never was. And now Phil is dead.

The card is Steve’s idea. Things like that always are. They want to give Clint a subtle reminder that they’re right there for him, and a card seems like a perfect idea. Tony gets a whole sheet of poster board to fold in half. Steve draws each of the Avengers with incredible likeness. Bruce, with his excellent handwriting, writes the message given to him by his team. When Tony somehow gets hold of an envelope that will fit a huge card, Thor closes it with a wax seal that he has from Asgard. When they show Natasha, she gives her approval with a nod and offers to take it to his room. When they’re gone, she also writes a little something in the bottom corner. He’ll notice, she’s sure, because Hawkeye’s eyes never miss anything.

Clint has no idea why his teammates keep giving him kind smiles when he gets back. Even Natasha gives him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. After a short while of this strange behavior, he gets creeped out and retires to his room, where he finds a giant envelope laying in his bed. When he opens it, he finds a card better than any he’s ever received. Now he keeps it hidden in the back of his closet with the envelope. If he feels unwanted or alone after a particularly bad battle, he likes to secretly pull it out and read all the messages all over again.

The day after the card, Clint is back to normal. He doesn’t say anything about the gift, and everybody understands that. That’s just how their friend is, and they don’t want him to change. Not one bit.


End file.
